Chinonye_Esther

A YA horror fantasy with cults, mirrors, sarcasm, and a boy who just wanted a normal damn life.

Kael isn’t special.
He’s not chosen, he’s not brave, and he’s definitely not ready to be hunted by his own reflection.

When the world’s mirrors begin glitching—reflections pausing, lagging, smiling—everyone starts to panic. But Kael’s reflection doesn’t just misbehave.
It disappears.

Now he’s the only person with no mirror image, and everyone’s noticing. That would be bad enough—until he finds out why.

There’s a secret cult called The Glassbound, and they’ve been waiting for this moment for centuries. They believe the mirror realm is the true world—and they’re letting the reflections out, one body at a time.

Kael?
He’s the key to opening the final gate.

And he is not okay with that.

Teaming up with a sharp-edged rebel girl with her own haunted past, Kael must dodge cultists, rogue reflections, and the thing that’s wearing his face—before the entire world is replaced by perfect, smiling copies.

This is not a glitch.
This is an invasion.
And Kael’s already one step behind his reflection.

We are not reflections

But it pulsed like it had lungs. Like it wanted to exhale.

I stood in front of it—this ancient, chained-up slab of glass Noelle called the Mirror Gate—and tried really, really hard not to pass out.

Except for the part where the mirror whispered my name again.

Noelle stood a few steps behind, arms crossed. Calm. Like she hadn't just dragged me to a cursed portal in an abandoned storeroom behind a sandwich shop.

I pointed at the mirror with a shaky finger. "Why is it... pulsing?"

"Okay, well can it stop sensing me? I didn't consent to this."

Noelle tilted her head. "You're connected to it. The more time you spend near it, the more it wakes up."

"No thanks. I'm not trying to be possessed by a shiny wall."

But the mirror didn't care about my boundaries.

It shimmered, just once—like someone threw a stone into its surface.

And then... something pushed back.

Raw, ancient emotion. Like being punched in the chest by grief and memory and rage all at once.

And suddenly—it all broke loose.

My own reflection—now visible—snapped into place in the glass like a puzzle piece slamming down hard.

The mirror cracked—just a hairline fracture—but it glowed where it split.

The air around me pulsed. My heart? Racing like it was trying to escape.

"Kael," she said slowly. "You're doing that."

"Doing what? I'm panicking! This is just good old-fashioned trauma!"

She shook her head. "No. You're awakening. You're not just a mirrorborn anomaly. You're a controller."

I turned to her, wild-eyed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You can interact with the reflection realm. Shape it. Open it. Maybe even—"

Not a sound, exactly—more like a psychic scream that clawed its way into my head.

I clutched my ears, but there was no escaping it.

When I opened my eyes, the crack in the gate had spread.

Its fingers pressed against the glass.

Noelle stared at me like I was a fire alarm that wouldn't stop going off.

I was still gasping. "I'm not—I don't want this."

A silver shard. Cool to the touch.

"Your first anchor," she said. "You're going to need it to stay on this side."

"What happens if I don't have it?" I asked.

Meanwhile, deep in the shadows of the Glassbound's sanctuary...

Another one stepped forward, face hidden beneath a mirror-mask.

"He's awakening faster than expected.

Chapter 7: Cracks in the gate